A Four Year Plan (and beyond) for Success

INTRODUCTION

Entering college can be both exciting and overwhelming. You are embarking on a new venture that will ultimately lead to your career. Although planning for your career may not be high on your list of priorities right now, there are steps you can take to make the process more manageable. The Center for Career Development can help. Our 4-year and beyond plan is designed to assist you in one of the biggest choices of your life, your career. So let’s get started!

FIRST YEAR - Time to PREPAREplus or minus

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.

As a Freshman, you may have many questions about what profession you will pursue, or may not know for certain what career path you wish to follow. This is a time of exploration and discovery, a time to lay the foundation for what you will eventually build upon. Some important steps to take during this time include the following.

Visit The Center for Career Development to speak with a counselor about finding your interests and to discuss any or all of the below listed suggestions:

Take a career test to assess yourself here

Explore Majors here

Apply for summer jobs

Connect with a Sophomore Ambassador to learn about what to expect in the coming year

Join student organizations that will allow you to grow personally

Maintain the interests you cultivated before attending The University of Scranton

Establish a good G.P.A.

SOPHOMORE Year - Show your PRIDEplus or minus

Pride is a personal commitment. It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity.~ Unknown

As a Sophomore, you are no longer as uncertain about the expectations of college life. Having been here for a full year, you are familiar with the workings of the day to day routine, and are better able to focus on the aspects of learning that will become unique to only you. During this year, you begin to show the pride you have not only in your school, but in yourself. Some suggestions for building upon this include:

Remaining connected to The Center for Career Development through utilization of the following:

Attend career-related workshops and seminars

Connect with Alumni in your field of interest for information on job opportunities, internships, and overall career information

Declare your major

Become a Sophomore Ambassador to assist Freshmen in the preparatory phase of their experience

Begin to sharpen your own skills and refine your talents through extra-curricular activities and memberships

Join career-related organizations and clubs

Build upon the prior year’s experiences

Connect with a Junior Ambassador representing your area of study

Maintain a good G.P.A.

JUNIOR YEAR - Find Your PASSIONplus or minus

If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.~ T. Alan Armstrong

During your Junior year, your focus may now become more centered on what your ultimate calling will be. Having completed two years and with only two more to go, you now need to start looking beyond your day to day experience and start looking at what the future will hold. Will it be graduate school or will you pursue a career immediately? Now is the time to focus on this. Some suggestions include:

Remain connected to The Center for Career Development by utilizing the following services:

Develop networking skills by attending luncheons, mixers, and other events sponsored by the University as well as other organizations

Participate in mock interviews through the Career Center

Speak to professionals in your field of interest for insight and guidance

Start a credential file and portfolio

Seek an internship or summer job more closely aligned with your field of study

Become a Junior Ambassador to mentor Sophomores in transitioning to the next year of their experience

Connect with a Senior Ambassador representing your area of study

Assume more responsibility in student leadership

Maintain a good G.P.A.

SENIOR YEAR - Fulfill the PROMISEplus or minus

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.~ James Allen

In this final year of your college experience, much responsibility will fall to you. As you end one chapter of your life, you stand on the threshold of yet another exciting chapter, that which will fulfill the promise of your future. During this time, while it is important to look back on your prior three years, it is also a time to prepare for your next venture. Some suggestions for making this transition include:

Remain connected to The Center for Career Development by utilizing the following services:

Assistance in seeking full time employment

Perfect your Interviewing and Communication Skills

Refine your resume

Attend on-campus as well as local career fairs

Remain in contact with Alumni and Internship personnel for advice and recommendations on starting your career

Become a Senior Ambassador to serve as mentor to Junior class members as they begin to focus on their future

Maintain your G.P.A.

ALUMNI - Entering Your PROFESSIONplus or minus

Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.~ Vincent VanGogh

Although you may no longer walk the commons, or sit in the classrooms, or dine in the cafeteria, rest assured your connection to The University of Scranton is not over. As Alumni, you now have become part of a select group, a title that can never be taken from you, an honor that has been bestowed upon you for the rest of your days. What better way to commemorate that than with sharing your expertise and wisdom with those students who follow you? Some suggestions towards achieving this include:

Keeping The Center for Career Development informed of your achievements and success, as well as continuing to reach out for assistance if you should need it with anything in the future

Volunteer to serve as a mentor, panelist, guest speaker, or resource for possible future internships at your organization